Renewed Fighting In Sri Lanka Disrupts Return

A new flare-up of fighting in Sri
Lanka has disrupted returns to Muttar Town, the scene of
recent violence and military operations, the United Nations
refugee agency reported today.

“We had seen some
families returning to their own homes, at least in the
daytime, but that movement has now come to a halt,” a
spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
told a press briefing in Geneva.

The new shelling around
Trincomalee comes as the number of civilians displaced
within Sri Lanka since April reached nearly 214,000. “This
may not reflect the full number,” the spokesman cautioned,
“since we do not yet have access to all the areas hosting
displaced persons.”

In addition, more than 11,000 Sri
Lankan refugees have crossed into Southern India since the
start of the year, after crossing the Palk Strait in boats
that the agency said “are often overloaded and
unseaworthy.”

On Wednesday, the UN launched an appeal
for $37.5 million to help victims of violence in the
country. As part of that, $5 million is being sought for
UNHCR to enable the agency to meet the needs of people
displaced within Sri Lanka.

Although 23 lorries carrying
food for displaced civilians were granted access to
Kilinochchi District on Tuesday, the spokesman said that
“with so many mouths to feed, more supplies are urgently
required” and called upon the Government of Sri Lanka and
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to allow
critical humanitarian aid to reach those in need.

The
spokesman also welcomed the easing of restrictions on
freedom of movement in Batticaloa District. UN agencies and
their partners are now permitted to enter the
LTTE-controlled area, and UNHCR “expects further access to
reach larger sectors of the displaced population,” the
spokesman said.

Fighting between Government forces and
the LTTE has intensified since April despite a ceasefire
agreed in 2002 aimed at ending a conflict that has lasted
for more than 20 years and claimed some 60,000
lives.

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